In modern times, babies, infants, and pets living in a home generally are under constant supervision by parents or guardians. This is because in the modern home there are many hazards which a toddler or infant might encounter which can harm or seriously injure them. While older children may have been taught or learned to avoid such hazards, babies, and especially toddlers who are learning to walk, and concurrently are extremely inquisitive and explorative, have no such knowledge nor any learned avoidance of such hazards.
As a consequence, a majority of parents choose to employ a barrier which can be permanently or temporarily removably positioned in key doorways and passageways in the home, to prevent passage to the hazards beyond the gate. Further, such barriers are also employed simply to maintain an infant or child in a confined space where the parent or guardian can have them under continuous observation and direct their activities in a constructive and safe manner. Many pet owners also choose to limit the area of the home a pet, such as a dog, can occupy.
Such barriers are commonly known as a baby gates or child safety gates and they provide a protective barrier configured to prevent babies and toddlers from accessing areas of a home where they might be unsafe, such as stairways, bathrooms, and kitchens. Such baby gates are conventionally constructed of metal, plastic and/or wood, and can be formed to a single width, or can be configured to expand and contract in width to allow temporary removable engagement within a range of doorway, hallway, and passageway widths.
In such configurations, baby gates may be hardware mounted or pressure-mounted or adapted for a pressure mount which also includes a hardware connection to wall or door surfaces. This allows the parent or guardian to position one or more baby gates in key passageways of a home, to prevent passage beyond the installed gate.
Pressure-mounted gates are conventionally held in a removable engagement in a passageway by friction with the walls or doorjambs or the like on the opposing side edges. Hardware-mounted gates are conventionally screwed into the wall studs and may employ hinges or the like to allow them to swing fully open like a door.
However, whether such gates are positioned to restrict passage by babies, toddlers, or pets, a significant problem arises where the child reaches an age where they can climb over impediments to their path. This is a similar issues with pets such as dogs who are able to pull themselves over or leap over a gate or the like.
Small children inherently seem to reach an age where they learn the physical skills to climb over anything blocking their path, if possible. Unfortunately, their learned physical skills for climbing, generally surpasses their learned aversion to dangerous or potentially harmful situations which are present in every home such as water filled bathtubs, hot stoves, doorways to the exterior of the home, and a plethora of other dangers for which a small child is not ready to encounter.
Conventional baby gate devices generally have a flaw in preventing climbing-capable children and pets from climbing over the engaged baby gate barrier. Because the top edge of such gates are fixed in position, children can get a hand hold and or foot hold on the top edge of the installed baby gate, and pull themselves up and over it. While some baby gates have attempted to prevent this behavior by placing a rotating member as or on the top edge, where the member only rotates one direction, or where a child can grip the rotating member and block its rotation such as jamming their hand between the rotating member and the top edge of the gate, children learn quickly they can climb over the gate. Pets such as dogs are also quick to learn placing their paws in a position where it prevents rotation of the rotating member, will allow them sufficient contact to leap over the gate. As a consequence, preventing the child encountering a baby gate from climbing it, continues to be an ongoing concern. The forgoing examples of barriers such as baby gates employed for preventing passage of children and pets past the mounting position of the barrier, and the limitations related therewith, are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. The disclosed examples and background does not imply any limitations on the invention described and claimed herein. Various other limitations of the related art of baby gates and barriers are known, or such will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.